Best Bargain You've Gotten Lately?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I am a serious die hard bargain hunter. If I can help, I never pay full price… it’s either a clearance item, bought at a discount store (like Big Lots) or thrift shop, or found on eBay at a dramatically cheaper price.

So just the other day I decided my husband needed a lamp for his side of the bed. Not just any old thing, but a lava lamp. Well, I checked eBay first and the least expensive were going for around $15 with shipping. I knew I had to do better, especially to make sure it worked in advance. Target had them for $20 and that was obviously way too much. Therefore I high-tailed it down to the local resale place and, amazingly, found one for a 5 spot! I had no idea if it worked, but at that price, I figured I couldn’t pass up such a great deal.

Long story short, got it home and after changing out the bulb, it worked like a charm. I am so happy. Plus have money to spare for more bargain hunting. :smiley:

And how about you? Any great deals recently? Tell us about them so we can all live vicariously through your superb skills and terrific find.

2

Took a shortcut through Macy’s, not intending to shop, but the cutest chiffon blouse, in watercolor pinks, blues, purples, all ruffles in front (gad, it was so pretty and springy and girly) - caught my eye. I haven’t bought a single new item of clothing since summer. The original price: $56. The sale price: $12. :smiley:

3

After hearing about it on a thread here on the Dope, I bought a copy of “The Completely Mad Don Martin” for $30. List price is $150.

4

My recent killer bargain was a family effort on behalf of my disabled sister who recently moved into the local subsidised SSD housing complex - a big step up from her previous place. She needed pretty much new everything. My family is crawling with die-hard bargain hunter/dumpster diver/roadside leftover grabber behaviors and my mom & her partner are the champions. We refer to them as our personal shoppers because you can give them dimensions/materials/colors/styles of pretty much anything from artwork to furniture to hats and they’ll find it within about 2 weeks.

So anyway…we were seeking a TV armoire to utilize as much possible space on a narrow wall - my job is ultra-tight measuring and providing descriptives of the desired piece to mom & B (“Ladies, your mission should you choose to accept it is…No wicker, no dark colors, no pressboard. As much storage as possible. 27” across interior for TV with a rollout tray if possible. Max width 4’, GO!") Off they went and in about 2 days mom calls me on the cell from the Sal Arm describing a nice TV armoire, so I grab my sister after I get out of work & race on down.

Wouldn’t you know it’s perfectly sized, solid oak, no pressboard, only one scratch and has the Ethan Allen brand on the back. Not that EA is the gold standard of luxe furniture or anything but it’s not crap, that’s for sure. Looking on eBay later I found one for about $1200.00. This one had a sticker marked $89.00. DAMN, ladies! Good work!
So, I ask the Sally employee lady if I can pay for it & we’ll get brother & his truck down there first thing in the AM. “Oh no, honey, it’s cash & carry only, not possible.” I see she won’t budge so I agree we’ll scramble a team first thing and be there before they open.

Got on the phone with brother, who scrambled a team and met the ladies opening the Sally first thing in the AM. All ready to shell out $89, brother meets the lady at the register who tells him it’s family day and there’s a discount on that…so it’s going to be…
…Doris is this correct?

…oh yes Felicia, it’s been here for a week or two.
…OK sir, the price is $23.00

DuhhWHAAAA!? Everyone said, then promptly laid down the $23 and scampered out of the place with a KICKIN piece of furniture for the price of a couple of pizzas.
BOO YAAA!!! Can I get an AMEN for my ladies down at the Sally. Go Sally! GO SALLY!
and GO PERSONAL SHOPPERS! I know what I want to do when I retire.
:smiley:

5

A couple months ago I was whiling away an hour at TJ Maxx. I was half-looking for some brown pumps for work. All of a sudden my eye rested on the Ariat logo. For those of you who not ride horses Ariat is a famous, well regarded, and expensive maker of riding boots and shoes. It was a pair of zip-up sport clogs… I knew for a fact they were listed around $90. A lot like these, except brown, and with a zipper up the middle.

One pair… my size… $28!!!

I wear them all the time, they are so freaking comfortable to walk in, they look cute with jeans and they’re made of really nice quality leather too.

6

Walking through Costco I notice a rack of little navy blue coats. I sidle on over and begin to peruse them. Celtling already had a little tweed for the Winter, but it was only two fairly thin layers, and I worried that she might grow out of it before the Winter was over.

I don’t know if I can do this thing justice. Tight, (nearly boiled wool tight) thick navy blue wool with a layer of quilting and then a soft silky lining. Long double pleated skirt and fake fur trim around the sleeves, and OH! The beautiful soft cape-like hood. Fabric covered buttons. A little gather and belt in the center of the back.

I’m not doing this well, but she just looks like a little Russian princess in it, and it’s unbelievably warm. Just what she needs for this Artic Winter. The black one here is close, but doesn’t have the same Audrey Hepburn je ne sais quoi.

$17.00

7

I needed a planner, organizer, whatever you call it, for my new job. I still need to have something in front of me to write on in order for me to remember things. Online and electronic calendars are fine as a backup, or so share your notes with other people, but leave me feeling frustrated, like I can’t see the whole picture.

Anyway I started looking online for prices. Even the really ugly “pleather” ones started at like $30. Inevitably in my searches I came across models I could never afford. I fell in love with a Coach planner that retails for over $200. Riiiiight, that’ll happen.

So just for the taste of it, I went on eBay, to see what I could find. Long story short, I got that exact Coach planner for $18 because it had a little ball-point ink stain on it. Which, trust me, it’ll be a hell of a lot more lived in by the time I’m through with it. Made my millenium.

Now if I could just find away to replace my stolen Monblanc at about the same discount . . . riiiiight, that’ll happen.

8

I needed a dressy-ish, lightweight jacket for a trip to DC. I searched everywhere, all the clearance racks at all the stores, and couldn’t find anything in black or beige, in my size, that was dressy enough to wear everyday and to a more formal evening event. I check Goodwill, and was gtting desperate, when I happened to drive past the hospital thrift shop. I find the perfect coat…black with tan trim, perfect length, perfect fit, quality material that doesn’t rumple even when stuffed in a carryon bag, and essentially brand new…tags still attached, but the button-on hood not included. It’s about $5 more than I had budgeted, but it is so perfect that it is worth the extra. I vow to stop drinking Pepsi Max for a week to afford it. I head to the counter, and there I see a sign that everything worn above the belt is on sale half price, including coats and jackets. That makes my perfect, London Fog rain jacket a mere $15. Ten dollars cheaper than any of the rumpled, too-casual, poorly-made coats on the sale racks at Target or WalMart or even Penney’s or Macy’s.

I didn’t stop smiling about it until after the trip was over.

9

I realized around Thanksgiving that I didn’t have even one winter coat that was nice enough to wear in a dressy situation. We were heading out of town, I knew I’d be going to nice restaurants, and I ended up having to borrow a coat to wear with the little black dress I was wearing.

I started this post to talk about the coat, but now that I think about it, the dress itself was a bargain as well. I don’t have a lot of dressy clothes, and (as with the coat) I needed a dress to wear out to fancy restaurants. Problem is, in my small town in mid-October, NONE of the stores were stocking fancy going-out-to-dinner dresses. One Saturday, I decided to bite the bullet, and went to the Neiman-Marcus web site and picked out 5 dresses. I figured I’d order them all, try them on, pick out one, and send the rest back. After spending an hour looking at dresses, consulting size charts, and trying to find a decent selection that wasn’t going to cost me an arm and a leg, I had them. I go to check out and… the web site dies. I frantically refresh. A few minutes later I’m met with a “down for maintenance” page. :smack:

Later that day, I’m running around town, and I happen to pass a consignment store. I figure “WTH?” and stop. In it, I find not one, but two little black dresses, both in my size, both $20. I bought them both, and ended up wearing one to the aforementioned fancy restaurant.

Back to the coat. I borrowed one from my mother to wear to the restaurant, but it had been in the back of my mind that I really ought to have something other than parkas and other very casual winter coats. Early December, I get an email from Amazon - “75% off women’s outerwear! One day only!” I didn’t even know that Amazon had women’s outerwear, but I figure I might as well check it out.

I ended up finding an Anne Klein Houndstooth coat, regularly $210, on sale for $50. It’s gorgeous, casual enough to wear with jeans, or nice enough to wear with fancy going-out-to-eat clothes. I love the thing.

10

Two brand new Tiffany style Hampton Bay floor lamps - normally $140 each, marked down to $35 each - because Home Depot is discontinuing carrying that style.

11

We decided to get my Mom a KitchenAid mixer for Christmas. I’ve always been a bargain shopper and love being able to find something I need for less, so the hunt began for the mixer. I was looking for the entry level model like I have…the 250 watt, 4 quart job. These go for $200-$250 or so, but Walmart was going to have one for I think $138 on Black Friday. Despite my love for bargains, I hate Black Friday. My SO said to check Amazon.

Went to the site and found the Professional Series, 600 watt, 6qt with flour funnel. Regular price on these on Amazon is $499-$599 depending on the color. They were having a Black Friday deal on one color (Matte White) for $299 with a $50 mail in rebate! Woohoo! I didn’t even have to wait for it. And did I mention FREE SHIPPING too!

For those of you unfamiliar with the mixer, KitchenAid is a top line mixer brand. There are some that are more, but KitchenAid is like the BMW of mixers. Meaning there are Ferrari mixers out there, but the BMW is much more affordable when compared to them. So in the KitchenAid line there are different levels, from an entry level like I have to a professional level like I got for Mom. This purchase was like getting a BMW 7 Series for the price of a 3 Series.

12

I got a Kitchenaid Pro 500 mixer for around $140, refurbished and on a super sale, at shopkitchenaid.com

13

We buy 1/2 hog at a time for around $1.80/lb, cut & wrapped at a local processing plant. This past spring I even bought another freezer so we can do a side of beef. Even at the steep discount, that’s still a lot of cashish to shell out all at once.

14

I needed a new winter coat for New Years (plans involved a lot of standing around outside at night. In Iowa). I found a Lands End ski jacket for $3 at a thrift store, it must have been brand new, I didn’t see a single smudge on it. Of course then a few days later I’m standing by the bonfire and a cinder lands on me and burns a little hole (I wasn’t paying attention … I know.) I was so sad, my only consolation was that I would have felt so much worse if I paid more than $3.

15

Wow, some of these are amazing. Makes me want to go shopping right now… :smiley:

Another great buy I got was at this same thrift store about 2 weeks ago. They put out a queen size hand-stitched gorgeous quilt for just 11.00 ( :eek: ), but each tag goes by colors and then those correspond to extra discounts. When I got to the register, the thing rang up as only 8.00. Talk about happy!

16

I was wandering around Kohls with friends, not intending to buy anything, when I saw long sleeve shirts, which I’ve been wanting one of for a while. All of them were at least $25, but I found one exactly the kind I was looking for, in my size. Listed $34.00, but 90% off! I walked out of there having paid a whopping $3.40 :smiley:

17

Zyada and I were out thrift store shopping, and saw the perfect couch for our newly-renovated den: hand-carved wooden arms and front plate, large-pattern print upholstery with the motifs centered on each section of the seat and back, and a pair of cushions with the same centered patterns. It had been marked $150, but it had been there too long (like orderfire’s armoire), so it had been discounted to $75.

The guy who had been looking at it a little while before we came in had decided to talk to his wife first, so too bad for him.

18

I’ve lost nearly 60 pounds since April 2009, so I’ve been on the lookout for cheap new clothes. JCPenney has been having mondo clearance sales lately. Got a fabulous dress, original price $60, for $4 and change. :smiley:

19

I got a like-new Husky serger on eBay for $80 plus about $20 shipping. That was way less than list price… but what’s really great is that I immediately used it to take in ten of my husband’s old shirts, which were too big. So however much it would have cost to get him new shirts, we saved.

20

It isn’t “lately”, but I haven’t done much shopping lately, so I’ll post it instead.

At a secondhand/consignment store, kinda trendy and hip. The SO is slight, so he often finds clothes that are on sale. We’re just about to leave when I notice a nice trench coat by the door; he’d been interested in one for awhile. I encourage him to try it on. It fits perfectly, and is in mint condition. It’s Burberry. With a warmer/liner. It’s $125. I encourage him to buy it - and he does - because “I think it retails for $600, babe!”

It retails for $1500. He gets compliments on it all the time.